Grants for Humanist Projects: Deadline Aug. 31

HumanistNetworkNews.org
May 9, 2007

In 2000, the Institute for Humanist Studies launched a program to make grant funding available to humanist projects around the globe.

This year, the Institute for Humanist Studies will pass the $1 million mark for humanist grants awarded since the creation of its IHS Grant Fund.

The annual IHS Grant Fund will have more than $100,000 to disburse to humanist projects for the 2007-2008 grant cycle. The deadline for applications is Aug. 31, 2007. Funds will be disbursed before the end of 2007, in time for projects to start in January 2008.

The IHS Grant Fund considers all proposals that advance humanist principles, but favors projects that advance the IHS goal of innovation. Other priorities favored by the IHS Grant Fund Committee include

• student and youth programs;
• local group projects that pioneer models that can be replicated by other local groups;
• initiatives that increase cooperation among organizations promoting the rights and beliefs of humanists and the nonreligious; and
• projects that utilize new media and technologies.

For a complete list of project criteria, plus guidelines and application forms, visit the IHS Grant Fund pages on the Institute's Web site at: http://americanhumanist.org/fund/index.html.

To familiarize yourself with the types of projects that the IHS Grant Fund project has supported, see: IHS Grant Fund recipients by year.

To read about some of the IHS Grant Fund success stories, visit: http://americanhumanist.org/fund/success.html

To ask questions regarding the IHS Grant Fund, click here to send an email.

Become a secular philanthropist

Americans give more money to religion than to any other organization or cause.

According to the Giving USA Foundation, Americans gave $260.28 billion in charitable contributions in 2005.

Of that $260.28 billion, $93.18 billion (35.8 percent) went to religious organizations in 2005. Donations to religion are greater than any other category by more than half.

Next on the list, with less than half the amount of contributions that went to religion, was education with $38.56 billion (14.8 percent). At $25.36 billion (9.7 percent), human services was next on the list, followed by health, which received $22.54 billion (8.7 percent).

About $199 billion (76.5 percent) of total contributions came from individual donors, with corporations, foundations and bequests making up the remainder.



Click here to read the Giving USA 2006 Report (PDF).

The Institute for Humanist Studies intends to build the IHS Grant Fund with contributions from humanist donors. The IHS Grant Fund Committee and the IHS staff provide expertise in the humanist movement and the due diligence necessary to ensure donations are used effectively.

"One of the goals of the IHS Grant Fund is to become an ideal vehicle through which secular philanthropists can share their goals and resources," said Larry Jones, president of the Institute for Humanist Studies.

Donations to the Institute for Humanist Studies and the IHS Grant Fund are tax-deductible as provided by state and federal law. The Institute for Humanist Studies is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

One hundred percent of your donation to the IHS Grant Fund goes to grant recipients.

For more information about giving to the IHS Grant Fund, visit the "Support IHS" page of the Institute's Web site at: http://americanhumanist.org/support.html.